Walka-walka-talka-talka!

Can you believe that this is what I looked like a year ago?




Hey! I have officially made the transition, just in these last two days! I now walk almost everywhere instead of crawling. The only time I crawl is when I tip over. But even when I do tip over, I can get up without holding on to anything. I can walk all over the appartment for several minutes without tipping over, and am even getting pretty good at running in really quick tiny little steps! My Momma and Dad think that I look like a little penguin when I do that, but they don't know what they are talking about. Mostly, I just look like ME. I am so incredibly pleased with myself when I walk that I make lots and LOTS of noise while I do it.
I also added a few more words these last few days: 'buh' (book), 'baw' (ball), 'poo' (need I explain?), and 'daw' (dog)! Oh yeah, and 'Nein!' (no, in German, accompanied by shaking my head) I picked that one up at the playground.
I have my 12-month check-up at the doctors' office on Friday, I'll be able to give you some exciting vital stats after that. And oh, yeah! My Dad is being promoted to a Captain on Friday, too! Is that cool or what?

My Dad was very sneaky and took a picture of me and my Momma taking a nap!
Hey! What is that kitty doing?!
For sitting on? Naaaah, it's for climbing!
And look! If I pull out the drawers on this dresser, I can climb it like steps!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

...so I am not exactly sure what was up yesterday, but I must have done something right! I woke up, and my Momma and Dad sang "Happy Birthday" to me, whatever that means. And then they took me downstairs and gave me this cool red car! And then after breakfast my Dad had to go to work, but he gave me a huge hug and said something about "Now you are one, little man!" ... I am not sure what he meant, I mean, there is and always has been only one of me. Confusing. Anyway, the day continuted, but instead of having to play by myself, a bunch of my little friends came for a visit! We got to play together, and people kept giving me hugs, and sang to me again. I also got a bunch of cool toys! (Thank you!) I think I must have become a celebrity or something. Or maybe people were rewarding me for learning to walk? Anyway, then my Dad came home from work, and he and my Momma put this cool burning thing onto cake. I got to bat at it with my spoon, and then I grabbed it, thankfully right as my Momma and Dad helped me blow that cool thing out. My Momma said something about me eating my first piece of cake, but I was pretty exhausted from playing with my little friends, and wasn't very interested... I took a few bites, and then just played with it. What a day!

The cake wasn't very exciting, but I sure liked the whipped cream! That? Oh, just saving some for later...

Look at my new bobby-car! It is just my size! Ok, so this thing is so cool. I can sit on it and drive it, and the kitty runs away from me! This should add a whole new level to chasing him...

Uh oh. And this thing makes honking noises! Cool! My Momma will LOVE the noise. I make very sure that the appartment never gets too quiet...

Alright, time for me to study for my drivers' license. I keep bonking into furniture... talk to you later!

I'm a Ninja turtle!

Ok, so there isn't really much to report, since my Momma just posted a new blog and a bunch of pictures of me yesterday. But she had a few more pictures of me that she wanted to show you...

While we were waiting for church to start, I was playing with my Dad's hat. His head is just a little bigger than mine, so I kept getting frustrated because I couldn't see. So my Momma turned the hat around. Wouldn't you know, it had this perfect little hole, made just for me to look through! How handy!

Well, the next pictures are somewhat embarassing to me... I had completely worn myself out playing and climbing and chasing the kitty, plus I had had an early start... so when I was eating my 4pm meal, I fell asleep in the middle of gnawing on some bread! I know that there are lots of pictures sleeping... but I move around so much these days that it is much easier to take pictures of me while I sleep than when I am awake.

My Momma watched in wonder as my eyes started drooping, my head bobbed a few times, and then slowly, very slowly, very slowly, my head sunk down onto the tray, and my bread!

I was completely conked out. I even snored!
I moved my arm a little, to get more comfy... and my Momma took advantage of the situation and took a picture of me sleeping on my bread.


Yes, yes. Still sleeping. Wadda ya want?
After my Momma realized that I was likely to keep sleeping for a while, she put her sweatshirt under my head, to make me more comfy. I woke up about an hour later.

Ok, enough of that! See you next time!

Weaned! And baby tricks...

As of yesterday morning, Mark is weaned! Right on time, a week before his first birthday. I had started slowly cutting back the nursed meals one by one, but still nursed Mark in the early morning so he would keep sleeping. Well, he has been sleeping through the night now pretty consistently (he sometimes wakes up for a drink of water if it is really hot), so now in the morning rather than nursing him when he woke up at 6, I gave him some water from his sippy-cup, and then put him back to bed. He slept 'til 8! He seems to be doing fine with not being nursed, and he is loving his evening self-fed finger-foods meal (last one consisted of cut up cheese, pieces of an omlette, and slices of banana and some bread). Mark is VERY interested in feeding himself these days, and likes holding a spoon while we spoon-feed him, batting at the bowl, himself.

Ben and I compiled a list of words Mark uses consistently. He says: da! (dad), mama, gkeeh (kitty), mow (meow, and sounding frighteningly real), duh (duck), mhoooo (cow), mmmmh! (food or drink), hi! (very exhuberant, and with a wave), hey!, dis? (this, as in, i want this, accompanied by pointing), dat? (that, as in, what is that? and pointing), DAT! (that! as in, i want THAT, not something else! pointing vigorously ...often accompanied by shaking his head if we don't get what he wants)
He also has a few baby signs he does: waving hello, pointing, fish (lip smacking like a fish opening and closing mouth), give me (opening and closing up-turned palm), fly (pointing first, then making a shoo-ing hand motion - this one was his own invention!). When Mark does something he is proud of, he claps aplause to himself.

Mark claps pat-a-cake, and can cover and uncover his eyes for peek-a-boo. He also plays peek-a-boo from behind the couch or any other obstruction, by popping up and down, jack-in-the-box style.Hmm. What else? He can show you his toes if you ask him where his piggies are, and he'll pull up his shirt and point at his belly button if you ask him where his belly button is.

Let me see. Mark is continuing to improve his walking, he now initiates walking often, and can get up from sitting to standing and back down without holding onto anything. He takes about 10-15 steps consistently, 22 is his current record. He climbs climbs climbs on EVERYTHING (slight exhasperation there). He climbs onto the couch, and up over the back, down to the ground, thankfully feet first. He has also figured out that he can pull out drawers and use them as step ladders to get on top of dressers. And by swinging his leg over, he can get onto virtually anything even at his shoulder level. The little rascal! He loves hunting the kitty, and the kitty, oddly, seems to enjoy it, and plays along.

Ok, so now for the pictures I know you all want to see...
We had a BBQ with some friends, and Mark got to play in the grass. He loved it! He did get his hands on some toad stools, but thankfully we noticed on time...

He actually was crawling all over the place, at top speed, but it was near impossible to get pictures of that. So you get pictures of the few iterim times he spent sitting.
The grass above looks nice and green, doesn't it? Well, trust a boy to find the dirty spots... and the puppy, of course! Mark was fearless, which in this case was ok, because the pup is used to small kids.
Nope, that's not chocolate on his lips... it's mud. And that small pooch in his cheek? That's mud, inside!
Uh, oh, here he is going for more, and there is my hand in the right bottom corner to take the dirt away... mean old Momma.
Hmmm. Let's survey the damage. Mud-smeared face? Check. Sandy taste on tongue? Check. Dirty hands? Check. Yep, it's a boy.
Raaarrrr! And now Mark is out to catch the puppy with those grubby little hands!

Ok, time to get clean... at least for a few minutes!

Snoozing with Dad and playing with Momma!

My Momma came home from the grocery store on Thursday, and found me and Dad cuddled together on the livingroom floor, snoozing!

This is one of the coziest places in the world. I felt safe, and warm and loved..... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Hey! Look at me! I have my very own chair, just like a big person! My Momma and Dad found it discarded at the side of the street (Germans call it Sperrmuell), so my Momma cleaned it off for me. I love it!
See? And aside from sitting on it, I can wiggle on it, too!
Oh yeah. Letting my Momma nap in the afternoon paid off (I woke her up at 6am this morning)... she played pad-a-cake with me! I love that game. I can clap now, by myself, too.
Not quite sure what throwing me in the air has to do with making a cake. But I liked it, none the less. Weeeeeeeee!
Uhhhh, can you do that again? Please? Please?
Yayyy! Now I get to play "This is the way the gentlemen ride!" That is even more fun than pad-a-cake!
Uhuhuh! Short pause to look at Dad. Hi! When Momma is done with this, will you chase me, please?

I'm a pirate, digging for treasure! Arrrrrgh!

Aaaarrrrghhhh! I am a pirate! Look at the hat my Gramma sent me! This is the only hat I let my Momma or Dad put on me... so far, all others have been deemed unworthy of my manly pirateness. This Sunday afternoon, my Momma and Dad took me to the playground! Boy did we have fun... I love playing in the sand!

Look at what my Dad did to me! Huh, this feels kind of weird. Are you sure this was a good idea? Ohoh, I got sand in my pants. Hmmm. And sand in my ears. And sand in my nose. And sand in my mouth, though not much. I didn't try to eat it, I just nibbled on my shovel.
This picture is out of sequence, but it is the cutest one...

Ok, so there I was playing in the sand. Do you see the little ditch behind me? My Dad sneakily dug it while I was inocently figuring out how to get sand onto the shovel, and how to transport it from one side to the other without losing it.

That ditch just kept getting bigger, until all of a sudden I tipped backwards into it!!! After a short moment of alarm, I decided it was fun.

...especially when my Dad started piling sand on top of my legs! He was too quick for me, no amount of wiggling my toes got me free... but I wasn't trying very hard. In this picture, by the way, I am saying "mmmhhhooo," which is my favorite animal in the book my Gramma gave me. I say it and search for the page with the cow on it. I also say it to the cow when my Momma reads me 'goodnight moon.'

Hee hee hee, this kinda tickles! My Dad is patting the sand around my toes.

Hah! You thought you could hide my toes?! Did you forget that I am a treasure-finding pirate?! See? I found my toes again! And all it took was some wiggling!

Ok, enough being inside the sand. Time for some standing. Uhoh. Sand in my pants. This walking thing isn't so comfy. Can I have a shower and a new diaper?

Hope you all enjoyed this post, cuz I certainly had fun playing in the sand with my Momma and my Dad (my Momma played too, before she got out the camera). Hey! And it's just 2 more weeks til my Birthday!

Am I cute or what?

Sorry that it there haven't been new pictures of me for so long!
Boy have we been busy! This time, not with school stuff, but with all sorts of fun things! I have had many chances to proove my mischievousness, getting into cupboards and boxes and backpacks,and climbing onto everything. And I got to play at the playground, and with other kids in the Baby gym class. And I got to go to BBQs with my Momma and Dad, and we went on walks, and we even got to go to the ER because my Momma pinched a nerve in her back! Don't worry, after the doctor cracked her back, she was ok again. But she isn't allowed to lift me for a few days. I don't like that one bit. So I climb on her whenever I can.

Uhhh, yeah. I am not wearing pants. I kept stepping on the bottoms of the legs, so my Dad took them off to make walking easier. No progress with walking, I stick to my 1,2,3 or 4, sometimes 5 steps. Crawling is still the way to get from A to B.
This is my very own cupboard. My Momma put these really annoying hooks on all the other doors in the kitchen. But she left this one open. It has baking pans and cookie cutter in it. They are so fun to play with, and I can make LOTS of noise with them!
Ohoh! The door is eating me! Errrrr. Dad? Momma? Help?
MMMMMMhhhh! This is yummy! My Dad isn't letting me eat his pizza, but the crust is good too... my Momma is much nicer, she is giving me some of her noodles, and some zucchini, too. Okok, I will admit, the only reason my Dad isn't giving me zucchini is cuz my Momma said no...

Hey! Look at me! I am inside a tunnel! My Momma's friend Stephanie gave us this. And I love it! My favorite game with it is to chase the kitty through it. He likes to sleep in the tunnel. I make sure he doesn't, though.

Well, enough for now, don't want to give you guys an overdose of cuteness. My Momma took some pictures of me playing in the sandbox. She'll put those up tomorrow. And remember, don't forget to post comments!